American League Division Series Matchups, Predictions

October 1, 2008

By DailySkew

Red Sox vs Angels

Game 1 at Anaheim
BOS Jon Lester (16-6, 3.21 ERA) vs. LAA John Lackey (12-5, 3.75 ERA)
Game 2 @ Anaheim
BOS Daisuke Matsuzaka (18-3, 2.90 ERA) vs. LAA Earvin Santana (16-7, 3.49 ERA)
Game 3 @ Boston
BOS Josh Beckett (12-10, 4.03 ERA) vs. LAA Joe Saunders (17-7, 3.41 ERA)

The Angels won 8/9 games against the Red Sox this year.
The Red Sox have injury question marks surrounding Josh Beckett.
J.D. Drew just played 2 games in September due to injuries.
Mike Lowell has a bad hip and may not be playing.
Tim Wakefield will be working out of the bullpen.
The Angels were the undisputed best team in baseball in 2008.

Favorites to win: Angels

White Sox vs Rays

Game 1: CHI Javier Vazquez (12-16, 4.67) vs TB James Shields (14-8, 3.56) in Tampa

Game 2: CHI Mark Buehrle (15-12, 3.79) vs TB Scott Kazmir (12-8, 3.49) in Tampa

Game 3: CHI Gavin Floyd (17-8, 3.84) vs TB Matt Garza (11-9, 3.70) in Chicago

Game 4: (if necessary) CHI John Danks (12-9, 3.32) vs TB Andy Sonnanstine (13-9, 4.38) in Chicago

The Rays won 5/6 games against Chicago during the regular season.
Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria are back.
The Rays have clearly been the best AL East team, and the 2nd best team in baseball, behind the Angels.
The White Sox Future Hall of Famer Jim Thome has a lot of momentum going into this series.

Favorites to win: Rays

Damian Hospital says that, on paper, the League Championship Series should look like this:

AL:

Angels vs Rays

NL:

Cubs vs Phillies

These are the best teams in baseball, but the best teams do not always advance. Predicting winners of a short series is a crapshoot. I just think it’s important to know who’s favored and who are the underdogs.